PASTORS PAULA AND SAMORIS HALL

Rev. Dr. Paula Elaine Hall is a native Washingtonian, educated in the Washington,
DC Public Schools. She is an alumna of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Va. Tech) where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Political Science.
Additionally, she earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of
Incarnate Word and graduated with honors from Howard University School of
Divinity(HUSD) with both Master of Divinity (MDiv.) and Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.)
degrees. Paula’s D.Min. project focused on the development of a curriculum for Black UCC
Churches to examine cultural and historical roadblocks that may prevent the incorporation
of radically inclusive ministries. The key focus of her research involved a critical
examination of generational shame as a product of enslavement and the dehumanization of
Black bodies. While at HUSD, Paula was featured as a speaker in the HUSD Faculty/Student
Colloquium, Seminarians’ Day of Preaching and HUSD presenter at the first and second
Virginia Theological Seminary’s TheoCon.

Paula received a commission as a United States Air Force Officer and served in the United
States Air Force as a Communications Operations Officer for 10 years. She received an
honorable discharge at the rank of Captain. After leaving the military, Paula began her
career in commercial telecommunications. She has a total of 39 years experience in
telecommunications. In addition, Paula worked as adjunct faculty at Strayer University in
the Business Department where she taught classes on E-Commerce, Human Resource
Management and Business Ethics. Currently she is the Manager of Media and Technology
at Howard University School of Divinity.

Paula met her beloved husband, Rev. Samoris Hall, at Shaw AFB in Sumter, South
Carolina. They have been married 34 years. They have three children: Samoris Jr., Aaron and
Areyal. Paula and Samoris entered ministry in 2005 as a ministry team. In 2008, they became
founding members of Beloved Community Church (BCC) with Pastors Guy and Sherry Molock.
She is a licensed and ordained minister and an active member of the BCC leadership team also
serving as the BCC Assistant Pastor of Worship, Bible Study teacher, Web Master, and Social
Media Director. In August 2022 Paula and her husband Rev. Samoris Hall were selected as Co-
Pastors Elect at Beloved Community Church UCC.

Paula is a passionate proponent of Social Justice, a devoted scholar of the Biblical Text as
well as a lifelong learner. She particularly loves research in New Testament texts with a
Womanist focus on locating liberating messages for women of color. Paula is specifically
interested in examining Sexuality and African American Women in the Black Church. All of her
favorite scriptures involve transforming from an old self centered mindset to one of
enlightenment and responsible engagement like Romans 12:1 that reads…Don’t be conformed to
this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..